1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document management system in which an output document and a log are saved as audit trails, a document management method, a computer program, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A printing apparatus having a storage apparatus such as a HD (hard disk) and capable of saving print data and a document prior to conversion into print data exists. Among such printing apparatuses, some printing apparatus also cope with a removal media functioning as a data input and output unit. In the above-described printing apparatus, the print data or the document saved in the HD of the printing apparatus can be saved on a USB memory to be brought out, or a scanned document can be saved on the USB memory to be brought out. The document brought out on the USB memory can be saved in another printing apparatus (at a brought out destination) or printed. Also, it is conceivable that the document brought out on the USB memory is edited with a PC (personal computer) to be saved, and is saved in another printing apparatus or printed.
On the other hand, an internal control is in effect, and an audit trail is an important issue in a manner that a log of “when” documents in a company are output by “whom” is recorded, and the output document is saved. Not only for the case of the document output in the printing apparatus, but also for the case of bringing out the document from the printing apparatus on the removal media, there is a demand that the output log at the brought out destination is collected, and the output document is save as a record.
As a method of solving such a problem, a technology for recording a log at the time of the printing on the removal media is known (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-100019).
However, according to the method of recording the log at the time of the printing on the removal media, there is a probability that the original data may be deleted while the data is brought out on the removal media.
In that case, if the removal media brought out is lost, although the record that the data is brought out on the removal media remains, it is impossible to check which kind of data was brought out. Alternatively, even when the data is brought back on the removal media, if the editing is carried out at the brought out destination, it is impossible to check what the original data was.
On the other hand, the following case is also conceivable. That is, there is no need to keep the data from the beginning in such occasions where deletion of the data brought out on the removal media is disabled and where the data output or editing is not carried out at the brought out destination and the data is simply brought back. Even in such a case though, the data remains in the HD of the printing apparatus, and a volume of the HD is unnecessarily used.